Atlantic contributing writer James Kirchick dismantled the claim that Israel committed genocide in Gaza on Friday's episode of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," agreeing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it is "the biggest lie of the century."
Maher raised the issue after Netanyahu used his address to the UN General Assembly last week to call the genocide accusation "the biggest lie of the century," and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani responded by accusing Netanyahu of repeating "baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide against Palestinians."
"Either it is a genocide or it's not," Maher said, adding that he believes the dispute is fueling antisemitism around the world. "To me, it is plainly not a genocide. So let's just get it on the table here. Genocide or not?"
Kirchick was unequivocal. "Look, if it's a genocide, it would have been the first genocide where the country committing the genocide vaccinated the population, where they sent them two million tons of food," he said.
"Israel could commit a genocide of Palestinians in a week, probably. They haven't done that because they have no intent to do it, and the intent is what matters when it comes to genocide."
Maher then put the question to his studio audience, asking them to raise their hands if they thought Israel had committed genocide.
